illustration (attribution, if any possible, is at the end of the article)

Advice from Me to Myself

"For ages now you’ve been beguiled, entranced, and fooled by appearances. Are you aware of that? Are you? Right this very instant, when you’re under the spell of mistaken perception, you’ve got to watch out. Don’t let yourself get carried away by this fake and empty life. (…)

All this dharma-practice equipment that seems so attractive? Forget about it! Right now, those students are all studying so very hard, but in the end, they can’t keep it up. Today, they seem to get the idea, but later on, there’s not a trace left. Even if one of them manages to learn a little, he rarely applies his 'learning' to his own conduct. (…)"
— Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887), Advice from Me to Myself

When one is convinced enough by rebirth, there is no contradiction with leaving instructions to oneself, one rebirth down the line (the complete letter is available at http://sealevel.ca/patrul/).